Out of simple curiosity I would love to know if anyone can explain this.
My husband made me a cake yesterday (a rare occurrence saved for once a year on my birthday), he used the same recipe as every year - the simplicity chocolate cake - but this year when it came out of the oven and was turned onto the cooling rack it appeared to suck in its middle the whole way round. After staring at it for ages trying to figure it out I decided to cut it and look at the inside (always the investigative type) and while it appeared to be cooked right through to the middle there were 'dense' looking patches. This is when my husband came clean about changing up the recipe a little by adding four (no doubt heaped) table spoons of milo to the mix. Could the milo have caused the problem? lol, it has been duly decorated and is now a cake pretending to be a wagon wheel biscuit.
Hmm - guessing that my hubby might be able to start an hour glass cake trend if no one else has seen this or has any idea why this actually happens. Lol, will think about a niche market for these. 
I don't know what milo is...
I've had cakes do this too, I never figured otu why. Freak baking accident. I htink there was another thread on here about the same thing, but I don't remember if the question ever got answered in a satisfactory way.
My guess is: there was too much liquid in the batter, too much batter in the pan, and it was baked at a lower temperature than required.
AIf you figure out what causes this shrinking around the middle I would love to know so I can do it to my waist!
too funny! it really looks like a giant set of lips too --
is it a chocolate drink? maybe he didn't mix it in well enough?
so maybe it clumped up in there and obviously is holding it's breath--
Quote:
If you figure out what causes this shrinking around the middle I would love to know so I can do it to my waist!
lol - me too!
I thought everyone, everywhere knew what Milo was, it is so popular here that almost everyone has a tin in the cupboard, it is a chocolate flavoured milk additive sold as a vitamin/mineral supplemental drink but is so full of sugar that I think you would be better off using a vitamin tablet. Most people just drink it as a milk flavouring or in the case at our house you fill your cup with milo and add enough milk to it so that you wont choke on the dry milo
Thanks for all the replies everyone.
AThat kind of sounds like ovaltine...maybe it just added too much sugar into it?
AOh,
Original message sent by costumeczar
That kind of sounds like ovaltine...maybe it just added too much sugar into it?
haha - loving all the replies too.
In the end I filled the cake with a Milo flavoured buttercream and covered it with a chocolate glaze. Overall taste is not too bad. It is an extremely dense cake and continues to get denser as it sits - it is almost the texture of tasty cheese lol but I am eating it without complaint as it was made with the very best of intentions 
. It seems that my Birthday may be the cause of the failed cake as three people have made me cakes this year - My husbands is the figure 8 cake, my very close friend made me a sticky date cake and put candles in too early which proceeded to melt the candles into the cake at a rate that you wouldn't believe and my MIL made me a cake (in her wood oven as they live on a rural property and that is the only cooking method they use) which she accidently burnt and which rose in such a way as to resemble the side of a hill. I have truly been blessed this year with many special cakes.
Thankyou all for your input, I will pass along the slimfast suggestion and I shall keep you all posted if I find a way to cross over the result to humans, hence causing my waist to shrink :-)
AAwwww that's sweet, you must have had a blast though seeing all those cakes!!
ALooooool @ mbalaska!!! That is too funny!! But seriously though could you imagine that
AI love it when people make me cakes, but they rarely do :(
Going back to the question, I believe I have a couple of possible answers. I've baked from scratch for over twenty years, but still get thrown a curve ball from time to time! This has happened to me before when I baked a round 14 inch cake. I scaled up my recipe incorrectly (as I discovered after the fact) and, long story short, there wasn't enough volume of batter for the size of the tin. When I realised my mistake I baked it again with the correct volume and it was fine. What I think happened was the cake rose to the height of the tin initially, but then collapsed on itself as there was not enough 'support' from the tin to sustain the height for that density of cake. I'm also wondering if milo (never heard of it either) contains titanium dioxide? Even a small amount of titanium dioxide can drastically change the density/structure of a cake and how it behaves. If it made the cake too dense, it could've risen too quickly and then collapsed on itself.
First, you guys are funny!! I just realized how hurt I am, no one has ever baked a cake for me other than my Mommy..........
Quote:
What I think happened was the cake rose to the height of the tin initially, but then collapsed on itself as there was not enough 'support' from the tin to sustain the height for that density of cake.
That would be my explanation too.
It happens to some extent with sponge cakes that don't have any additional leavening but the eggs. The kind of cake where you don't spray the pan because the cake needs to cling to the side of the pan as it bakes to support it's structure. Once you cut the cake from the pan it can slouch.
Also could happen if your oven dropped temp. halfway through the bake.
I just looked up~~titanium dioxide in food...........yuck! I never thought about It before.
Quote:
I love it when people make me cakes, but they rarely do
Going back to the question, I believe I have a couple of possible answers. I've baked from scratch for over twenty years, but still get thrown a curve ball from time to time!
This has happened to me before when I baked a round 14 inch cake. I scaled up my recipe incorrectly (as I discovered after the fact) and, long story short, there wasn't enough volume of batter for the size of the tin. When I realised my mistake I baked it again with the correct volume and it was fine.
What I think happened was the cake rose to the height of the tin initially, but then collapsed on itself as there was not enough 'support' from the tin to sustain the height for that density of cake.
I'm also wondering if milo (never heard of it either) contains titanium dioxide? Even a small amount of titanium dioxide can drastically change the density/structure of a cake and how it behaves. If it made the cake too dense, it could've risen too quickly and then collapsed on itself.
I think it has to be something to do with the milo as everything else happened the same as when my hubby normally makes the cake. Just looked up the titanium dioxide and I would like to hope that there is none in the milo as the idea of it is pretty nasty lol. I might try adding milo to another cake recipe that I designed and worked on as my bubba (and therefore I) had to be off dairy for a fair while, I have trialled it so many times and know that it had never flopped like that before so the only unknown will be the Milo. It does appear when you eat it that there are two layers to the cake, the bottom half is really really dense, like a hard cheese and the top is more like a chocolate cake, the very bottom of the cake though has a 'skin' of about 2millimetres that appears like the bottom of a normal cake - very weird.
I am pretty lucky - although my Mum never bakes me a cake and often doesn't even call on my birthday - even though I make her yummy cakes or go out of my way to do something nice for her (she did post on my face book page to wish me happy Birthday - Go Mum - lol) I do have a beautiful extended Family and Hubby that make me a cake, I love the effort that gets put in, and three problem cakes in one year make for a very special and memorable year
Quote:
That would be my explanation too.
It happens to some extent with sponge cakes that don't have any additional leavening but the eggs. The kind of cake where you don't spray the pan because the cake needs to cling to the side of the pan as it bakes to support it's structure. Once you cut the cake from the pan it can slouch.
Also could happen if your oven dropped temp. halfway through the bake.
I just looked up~~titanium dioxide in food...........yuck! I never thought about It before.
I can't tell you what leavening is used without looking up the recipe as after pulling out all my baking stuff I am banished from the kitchen while he is mixing the cake batter and don't see what he uses. It is not a recipe that I use either so I am unfamiliar with it apart from eating it once a year :-) I do know that the tin was buttered though as I looked at the tin after he prepped it - I got some new tins for Christmas and I didn't even get a chance to use it before the hubby snaffled it from under me lol.
Thankyou for the ideas - I love to work out 'why' so I may have to a little research and experimenting, if I do figure it out I will let you all know.
I agree with the other posters but I want to add that this also happens to me when I over-grease my pans. But what a nice and sweet gesture from your hubby! :)
AYes the reason I mentioned titanium dioxide is that I know it's a 'hidden' ingredient in a lot of manufactured, pre-packaged foods for various reasons, but mainly to make things white or to neutralise 'yellowness' before colouring with other colours. One of my close friends is a chemist and I was surprised at some of the examples. For example a well known brand of milk in the UK contains it so that it looks more 'white'. Naturally cow's milk has a slight blue tint.
Quote:
Yes the reason I mentioned titanium dioxide is that I know it's a 'hidden' ingredient in a lot of manufactured, pre-packaged foods for various reasons, but mainly to make things white or to neutralise 'yellowness' before colouring with other colours. One of my close friends is a chemist and I was surprised at some of the examples. For example a well known brand of milk in the UK contains it so that it looks more 'white'. Naturally cow's milk has a slight blue tint.
lindseyjhills: that's an interesting post. It is still amazing to me that people have the good sense to put dark yellow rich creamy butter on their toast, and yet they'd never-ever even consider putting solid white vegetable shortening on their toast. Then they demand that they receive pure white icing that taste like real butter. What ridiculous thing has happened to make people shun real food 
there had to be some chemical thing in the Milo that threw the balance off.
Quote:
Wonderful cake gifting stories! No-one bothers to make me cake, except my Mum ;-)
Evoir: I'll make you one and mail it, IF you promise not to put it on Disaster Cake Wrecks page!
cause after looking at your super duper cakes - you'd not be able to help yourself. LOL.
Quote:
Evoir: I'll make you one and mail it, IF you promise not to put it on Disaster Cake Wrecks page!
cause after looking at your super duper cakes - you'd not be able to help yourself. LOL.
You are one of the nicest people on CC, MBalaska :-)
I haven't had much time to update my galleries here on CC, but I might try putting up a few newer ones for your viewing pleasure! 
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%